Thursday, September 22, 2005

Fall of the Lying Criminals

They told lies about Iraqs ties to al Qa`ida and support for terrorism.

They told lies about massive stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, including anthrax, sarin and VX nerve gas.

They told lies about aluminium tubes and mobile laboratories, and they told lies about Iraq seeking uranium from Africa.

Those who tried to expose the lies were either ridiculed or ignored by the pro-war corporate politico-media establishment.The lying criminals that conspired to attack Iraq really did not care about lying to the public, nor did they hesitate to lie to their parliaments. The power of executive privilege would protect them, or so they believed.

Those who spoke out against the lying criminals were quickly silenced, some permanently. Smear and fear are the tactics most commonly used by the lying criminals to silence and intimidate critics, but not all critics can be silenced, and some are simply too credible to ignore.

Former US ambassador Joe Wilson was not afraid to challenge the lying criminals. The CIA sent Wilson to investigate the claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa. He found the claim was false and based on forged documents. He later wrote an editorial in the New York Times that exposed the uranium from Africa lie. The Bushites knew they had a problem on their hands, and being inveterate liars with very few scruples and too much power, they responded in the usual way, the only way they know, with lies, smear and innuendo.

Karl Rove is principal political strategist, right-hand man and bossum buddy to the president. Bush dubbed him Turd Blossum, due to his skill at dirty politics. Others simply call him Bushs Brain, due to his crucial role in the Bush ascendency.

Rove is the master of smear and character assassination. When Bush ran against fellow Repug John McCain in the 2000 primaries, Rove spread rumours that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child.

Rove probably orchestrated the bugging of the UN building in New York and the salacious smear campaigns against Hans Blix and other UN weapons inspectors.

When former Counter Terrorism Chief Richard Clarke resigned and then criticised the Bush administration, Karl Rove launched a vicious smear campaign against Clarke.

The 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth smear campaign against presidential contender John Kerry was a brainchild of Karl Rove.

And when Joe Wilson exposed the uranium lie, Rove leaked the identity of his wife. Rove told reporters that Wilson was sent to Africa by his wife who works for the CIA, a lie which implied that nepotism was rife at the CIA.

Wilsons wife, Valerie Plame, worked undercover for the CIA in a front company called Brewster Jennings and Associates. This firm posed as an energy consultancy with offices and contacts all round the world, but it was secretly gathering intelligence about nuclear proliferation.

When Rove leaked Plames identity, he also exposed the true identity and nature of the firm she worked for, effectively destroying an entire clandestine network, an important national security asset that had taken years to establish. The CIA was mighty pissed off.

George Tenet, then head of the CIA, demanded an investigation into who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA operative. The White House lie machine went into overdrive. The lying criminals were in a panic. Bush insisted that he would tell the truth, he would demand that his staff tell the truth and cooperate fully with the investigation.

Of course, that was just another lie, he cant stop lying now, even if he knew how to, because the truth will destroy his presidency. And so, Rove lied to the FBI, and he lied to the grand jury, and Bush lied, and Cheney lied, and Lewis Scooter Libby, Cheneys chief of staff, he lied, they all lied and lied, thats what they do, they cant help themselves.

But you know, its illegal to lie to the FBI, and its illegal to lie to the grand jury, and its illegal to lie to Congress and its illegal to leak classified information to the media. And in war time, the penalty for leaking classified information relating to national security, is death.

Thats right, the death penalty, or any term up to life in prison.

The Grand Old Party, Joe Conason opines, has became a front for sleaze, corruption and cynical criminality. Across the country, from the Capitol to statehouses, Republican officials are under indictment, under investigation or under suspicion.

These lying criminals have conspired to commit very serious crimes, not least of which, the bombing of Iraq and the slaughter of thousands based on the fabrication of evidence; perjury, treason and espionage; obstruction of justice and very shortly, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and his grand jury will begin presenting indictments against Bush administration officials.